


Echoes In Your Mind

by Redburn



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mental Link, Pining, set somewhere in season 2 i dunno, they are also a good team, timelines? What timelines?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-02-10
Packaged: 2018-09-23 03:03:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9638117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redburn/pseuds/Redburn
Summary: Keith's Galra appearance was starting to show. And it only seemed to happen around Lance.“I'm not going to turn purple,” Keith sputtered.“And furry,” Lance reminded him. “Don't forget about the cute fuzz you'll get.”“And ears!” Pidge grinned. “Our resident emo purple bat boy.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> ahhh i really hope you all like this little fic, it's the first thing I've done relating to season 2 since it came out. I played with some ideas for a while, but this was the one that stuck with me, so I hope it was the right choice! :)
> 
> and credit for the 'bat boy' nickname goes to the lovely [magiterpavus](http://archiveofourown.org/users/magisterpavus/pseuds/magisterpavus)

A couple weeks after the team had found out Keith was part-Galra, they'd all pretty much come to terms with the information, besides Allura, who still sometimes eyed Keith a tad longer than the others, but other than that, it was pretty much a fact that slipped into their lives like it had always been there.

 

Lance never quite understood why Allura had freaked out about it as much as she had—Keith was still Keith: hotheaded, blunt, lacking in social skills and still annoyingly attractive—even when he frowned so hard it looked like he was constipated.

 

Lance looked over and saw Keith was doing just that, looking out into the void like the stars themselves had personally pissed him off. It was cute, and it made Lance irritable.

 

“Alright team,” Shiro called for their attention up the front, “We'll be making descent on the Yivetyl planet in ten minutes. We're helping the locals there who just survived an attack from the Galra, so we'll assist in helping them find a more secure location to rebuild their community.”

 

“Good thing Keith hasn't started turning purple,” Lance smirked slightly, just to get a rise out of him, “Can't imagine what they'd all think about having a Galran with us.”

 

“Lance,” Shiro chastised, “Now isn't the time to worry about that. We have much more important things to be concerned with.”

 

“Yeah, Lance,” Pidge said, and Lance responded by sticking his tongue out. Pidge threw the book she was reading at him, and Lance was ready to retaliate, but Shiro cut in again with a stern voice.

 

“Guys, enough,” he barked, mumbling something about 'Not being paid enough for this shit.'

 

“Yeah, Lance,” Keith spoke up, mimicking Pidge's previous taunt, and Lance turned to him.

 

“Did Keith just... make a joke?” He awed, mildly impressed.

 

“Ohhh nice one Keith!” Hunk pat him on the back, causing Keith to stumble a bit.

 

“Paladins,” Allura warned, clearly done with all of them.

 

Lance slinked over to his controls and sat down, eyeing Keith sitting in front of him every now and then. _Keith and his stupid hair and his stupid obsession with knives and his stupid luck of always getting picked to go with Shiro on missions_ , Lance thought.

 

Stupid Keith.

 

***

 

They found a place to land amongst the wreckage left behind from the Galra. It was a very desolate planet, with not many cities, rather there were more towns scattered about the dusty planes of the surface. The locals were half their height, covered in spikes and sporting large pincers from their mouths.

 

Only Allura and Coran could communicate with their leader, so Shiro started splitting the rest of the team into groups to start helping to load up supplies for the creatures to take with them.

 

“This place is so dusty,” Lance grimaced, kicking a stone near his foot. “You must feel right at home, Keith.”

 

“Enough with the shack jokes,” Keith gritted out, clearly still pissed at Shiro for lumping them together.

 

 _Whatever,_ Lance thought. At least Keith wasn't flying off with the princess again.

 

“Let's just concentrate on the mission, alright?” Keith said bitterly, walking ahead at a faster pace, his gaze searching around for the plants they were meant to be scavenging.

 

Lance kept to himself for a while, playing counting games in his head when things started to get boring, having not much luck in finding the food for their new allies. Keith was still avoiding him, his broodiness wafting off him in waves large enough for Lance to surf on.

 

“Hey,” Lance started after another lull of silence, grinning stupidly, “Wanna play a game?”

 

“No.”

 

“Oh come on, when we were stuck in that elevator we had a marvellous time, remember?”

 

Keith shot him a glare.

 

“Man, why couldn't you have been part-some-weird-clown-race, or something? Galran's are already pretty broody, so mix that with Keith DNA and you've got _double_ the emo,” Lance sighed, boring holes into the back of Keith's head.

 

“Sorry to have disappointed you, Lance” Keith said, clearly exasperated, “Well why couldn't _you_ have been--”

 

But Keith never got to finish, because suddenly a blur of bodies appeared behind one of the canyons to their left. They were Galra soldiers, that much was obvious, and Lance cursed at not being able to detect them on their scanners before.

 

“Shit,” Keith cursed, his bayard appearing, sword ready and shield up.

 

“Of course,” Lance groaned, blaster forming and taking aim. He took advantage of being far away, hitting one soldier instantly. The remaining four soldiers drew guard, now aware their targets had weapons, and Lance tried his best to hit them as they moved about quickly.

 

“You take the ones on the left,” Keith shouted, taking off into a sprint.

 

Lance continued cursing internally, trying to keep a calm mind as he readied his bayard for another shot. He hit another Galra point-blank, the sound satisfying as they fell to the ground.

 

Sometimes mid-battle Lance found his mind wondering, and he couldn't help but think about the idea of Keith being brought up on the enemy's side, under Zarkon's rule and, with every possibility, fighting against Voltron itself.

 

The thought sat low in Lance's gut, this sour burn that had him looking over to Keith out of irrational fear. But Keith was still fighting the Galra, his present bayard as true as his commitment to take down the Galra Empire, and Lance felt his body relax exponentially.

 

Figures, that as he's busy worrying about Keith he momentarily forgets to watch his back, because Keith is shouting something from his right, and Lance is still too distracted by the Galra in front of him he doesn't notice another come at his blind spot.

 

“Lance!”

 

Keith was barrelling towards him with fire in his eyes, sword aiming to attack, and Lance barely swivelled to the left to avoid the blow from behind him, and then Keith is there, striking the Galran right through the chest, sword gliding in smoothly.

 

Lance catches his breath and spins to hit the last remaining Galra right in the chest, and then it's quiet once again, their heaving breaths the only sound to be heard.

 

Lance waits for his heart to return to normal before turning to Keith, “Thanks man, that was clo—”

 

Keith looks up when Lance stops, and his brows furrow when he's met with Lance's wide stare. “What?”

 

“Your... eyes,” Lance said by way of explanation, not blinking as he continued to watch Keith with a cautious expression.

 

“What about them?” Keith asked somewhat exasperatedly.

 

“They're... _yellow._ ”

 

“ _What?_ ” Keith frowned harder, his hand reaching up subconsciously in defence.

 

“Dude,” Lance almost grinned, “Seems you _do_ have a Galra side waiting to show through.”

 

Keith still looked slightly panicked, looking down at the rest of him as if to check he was different anywhere else. “Let's just--” Keith retracts his bayard, face contorting into something with disdain. “Let's head back. We're not having any luck here, anyway.”

 

“Alright,” Lance cocks his head, and Keith turns away from him quickly, stalking ahead again to make it back to the others.

 

Lance had a strange feeling this probably won't be the last time this happens.

 

_Allura is gonna freak so hard._

 

*

 

“Your eyes turned _yellow_?” Pidge squawked, jumping slighting in her seat.

 

They'd finished their mission on Yivetyl and we're now on route again, settling down for dinner, all sporting tired stances as they recovered from a hard missions work.

 

“It's not that big a deal, is it?” Keith asked somewhat wobbly, stabbing at his food-goo with more force than necessary, hardly eaten.

 

“Well, I suppose not,” Pidge shrugged. She had her laptop out, writing in it every so often as the meal progressed. Lance made a guess she was researching all they could dig up on Galran heritage—pity they couldn't just invite one over and have a nice little chat over a cup of space-tea.

 

“Keith and I had a talk about this possibly happening one day,” Shiro said from the end of the table, his eyes slightly sympathetic as he watched Keith.

 

Keith continued to avoid their stares, his mouth pulled down. “I hate this,” he whispered, “I still know nothing about my past, or my mother.” He finally looked up, and Lance caught his gaze, and they both lingered. “I'm... worried I'll become a liability.”

 

“What?” Lance spoke first, inching forward as if to reach out to Keith. “No, no way man. It's just like going through a faze, a second puberty, if you will.”

 

Keith almost rolled his eyes. “But... who knows what could happen, when people start to learn Voltron has a Galran pilot amongst them. It's not something people will take lightly, it's—”

 

“Nothing,” Shiro cut in, voice firm. “It's nothing, and I'll personally make sure that any allies we make have no issues with it. You're part of the team, Keith, and your heritage shouldn't have anything to do with it. Remember, Red chose _you_ , after all.”

 

“Shiro's right man,” Hunk smiled gently. “Nothing's gonna change, you'll just be a bit more colourful now, that's all.”

 

“I'm not going to turn _purple_ ,” Keith sputtered.

 

“And furry,” Lance reminded him. “Don't forget about the cute fuzz you'll get.”

 

“And ears!” Pidge grinned. “Our resident emo purple bat boy.”

 

Keith groaned. “Oh my god, _I'm not emo_ —”

 

*

 

On a relatively quiet day in space, Allura gave them all some time off in whatever the space equivalent to the afternoon was. After Lance's last failed attempt to go swimming, he was determined now more than ever to finally get some laps in.

 

He'd gone to ask Coran for help on how to actually get up there, and after about ten minutes and a bunch of complicated explaining later, apparently all he had to do was imagine he was on the ceiling and it would take him there.

 

Y'know, because that totally cleared everything up.

 

So he avoided the elevator, instead finding a staircase nearby, and almost ran up the steps he was so excited to finally get in the water again. When he arrived on the right floor, he was surprised to find Keith there, already wading close to the pool's edge as he glanced down at Lance from the ceiling.

 

“Hey,” Lance waved, closing his eyes, and after a few seconds of blurriness he was there, staring at Keith the right way from across the pool. “Fancy seeing you. Come here often?”

 

Keith's mouth twitched. “No, but I'm thinking about leaving, now.”

 

“You're so mean,” Lance gasped dramatically, clutching his shirt before he took it off and dropped it on the ground by his feet. Keith was still holding on to the ledge, eyes darting around him, and Lance tilted his head at him.

 

“You okay man?”

 

Keith's head shot up to him, and his smile didn't meet his eyes. “Fine.”

 

Lance stepped back slightly, sending Keith a mischievous grin before jumping up and curling into a ball before he hit the water. When he resurfaced Keith was spitting out some water, wet hair now sticking to his forehead. Lance laughed. Keith glared.

 

“You're dead,” Keith promised, to which Lance waggled his eyebrows tauntingly.

 

“Well then? Come and get me.”

 

Keith pushed out from the ledge, but as soon as he did he started sinking, struggling as he tried to make his way over to Lance. Lance watched with a frown, and then he was suddenly reminded of the time he first took his cousin down to the beach to swim for the first time.

 

“Dude,” Lance swam over quickly, reaching out to curl his hands into Keith's side, holding him up so that Keith could breath properly. “Dude,” he said again, “Can you not swim? What the hell? I don't want you to drown for me or something.”

 

Keith huffed, eyes a mixture of determination and begrudging acceptance. “No, I can't. I didn't think it would be hard to do, though.”

 

Lance's hands gripped tighter instinctively, concern for Keith's safety coming first. “Dude, I can teach you, if you want.”

 

Keith eyed him for a moment, as if to check that Lance was being sincere. Lance tried not to show the mild hurt he felt, or how much he was enjoying feeling Keith's skin under his own. Their legs brushed in the water, and Lance had to swallow a gasp.

 

“Okay.”

 

It took Lance a second to realise Keith was accepting his help, and then it became hard to wipe the earnest smile from his face after that.

 

The next half an hour was spent in the shallow end of the pool, standing shoulder to shoulder with Keith as he ran through the basic arm strokes to help him stay afloat. Then he got Keith to grip the edge as he ran through the kicks, and when Keith felt like he was ready for the next step, Lance felt his face warm from the prospect.

 

“Alright,” he said, standing directly in front of Keith now. “I'm going to get you to lay on your front, and I'll be holding you up on your stomach, okay? I wont let you drown, promise.” He gave Keith a wink.

 

Keith pursed his lips before taking a deep breath, nodding once, and Lance came over to splay his palms flat under Keith's chest and stomach as Keith slowly moved into position above the water's surface.

 

_'Oh, god. I'm touching Keith's chest, shit shit shit he feels strong, oh, jesus, this was a bad idea, a really bad—'_

 

“Lance?”

 

Lance snapped out of his inner meltdown, throwing Keith a wobbly smile to show everything was _a-okay, just peachy my dude, only 100% heterosexual thoughts happening here._

 

“Ahaha,” Lance laughed, clearing his throat discreetly. “A-alrighty, so just start kicking and moving your arms like we practised, and when you're feeling more confident I'll remove my hands and see how long you can stay afloat, yeah?”

 

Keith let out a slightly nervous, “Okay,” and it really shouldn't have warmed Lance's heart as much as it did.

 

It went well, for a first-time swimmer, and it was probably mostly due to Keith's utter determination to not have Lance be better at something than he is. Although, if Lance were being honest, he thinks maybe they're past that dumb competitive stage, and hopefully becoming more of a team, just like he'd said all those months ago.

 

And that teamwork was about to be put to the test once again when the Voltron alarm blared out around the room, Allura's voice alerting their situation.

 

They both waded to the edge and jumped out, and Lance tried not to slip much as they ran for the exit. Before they made it back to their rooms Lance gave Keith a proud smile.

 

“Nice work today, young grasshopper,” he said.

 

Keith shot him a look before it schooled into respect. “You're a good teacher, Lance. Thanks.”

 

Lance felt his face grow hot. “Any time, man. We could make it an ongoing thing, if you want?” He stopped in front of his door, holding his breath, wondering if Keith would just laugh it off.

 

But Keith's eyes seemed to grow softer, Lance thought, before he smiled. “Yeah, that'd be nice.”

 

Throughout the entire battle against a Galran fleet, Lance tried desperately not to think about Keith's smile, and instead hit every Galran ship with a lot more force than necessary.

 

*

 

“Hunk, bro, my main man,” Lance announced as he walked into the main lounge area, all smiles as he plopped down next to his friend. “Thanks again for hooking up that game for me and Pidge.”

 

Hunk laughed gently. “Any time. I didn't think I could handle seeing Pidge's broken expression any longer. Although I still can't believe how much money you stole from that mall.”

 

“It was Killbot Phantasm I, Hunk,” Lance insisted, inching closer to Hunk with a hard stare. “ _Killbot Phantasm I_ —I would've straight up stolen 50 cows to buy that game for her.”

 

Hunk rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling.

 

Keith walked in a few minutes later, looking exhausted with bags under his eyes, and Lance felt a tug of worry bite into him.

 

“Hey Keith,” Hunk greeted, “You feeling okay?”

 

Keith looked up and noticed he wasn't alone, and he immediately plastered on a tired smile. Lance didn't like that Keith was suddenly hiding what he was really feeling, but he understood somewhat—worrying Hunk is a rule on this ship they all vowed not to break.

 

“I'm fine, just been wearing myself out training,” Keith said smoothly, almost convincing Lance.

 

“Dude, it's a shame your cool Galra blade doesn't have like, secret powers or something,” Hunk said, “But I guess having two swords now is pretty badass, right Lance?”

 

Lance jerked his gaze away from Keith, smiling wide at Hunk. “Oh yeah, we're all mad jealous we don't get to carry around two big knives.”

 

Keith scoffed at him, but his smile seemed a touch more genuine, which was a plus in Lance's book.

 

“But man, I wish we could land somewhere nice soon. I've gotten to that point where you just wanna breathe fresh air, you know?” Hunk said.

 

“Tell me about it,” Lance sighed, briefly thinking of home before pushing it far back into his mind, not letting himself get emotional again.

 

“Maybe I can ask Shiro,” Keith offered, and then he gave a small laugh. “I'm pretty sure all his dying jokes are hinting at something.”

 

“You know I heard him say a meme to Pidge one day. He told me not to tell you, Lance, but I couldn't keep it in any longer. Think of it as an early birthday present,” Hunk gave him a wink.

 

Lance gaped. “ _He what?_ ”

 

_*_

 

“Shit, _shit,_ ” Lance muttered as he guided Blue once again out of fire from a Galran blast.

 

“We've been at this for _ages_!” Pidge groaned out in frustration, her annoyance taking up residence in Lance's mind link. “ _Why_ aren't we forming Voltron again?”

 

“Because,” Shiro's leader voice piped up, his determined thoughts almost the only thing keeping them going. “Allura's current condition renders us unable to wormhole away. If Voltron is our only defence for the castle, we can't fight off all of these ships. It's too risky, so having multiple lions rather than one is better right now.”

 

“Hey, Keith,” Lance grinned, hoping to lighten the mood. “It's the mother-ship, it's here to take you home. Beep boop, beep boop.”

 

“Lance,” Keith grimaced, but Lance can just feel the beginning of a smile threatening to tug at Keith's mouth over their link.

 

“Kidding, kidding,” Lance said, “We'd never let them take you, mullet. You're _our_ resident emo child.”

 

“Enough,” Shiro said, hitting another enemy ship straight on. Hunk flew beside him, making a path for Shiro through all of the fighter ships.

 

“I didn't think Allura could _get_ sick,” Lance grunted, freezing a blaster in it's place, watching as Keith melted another a little ways ahead. “At least it's not like Coran's slipperies.”

 

They all heard Coran gasp over the comms. “It was out of my control—besides, it really did wonders for my skin, you see—”

 

“Ah, that's alright Coran, we don't need to know,” Hunk shuddered just before another wave of blasts were aimed their way.

 

“Well you might want to know this,” Coran tells them, and Lance can easily picture the man tweaking his moustache. “It seems the mother-ship, as Lance called it, has a central navigating system that's controlling most of the fighter ships. Destroy that area and they will all lose connection to the Galran's electric frequencies.”

 

“Alright team, we can form Voltron now!” shouted Shiro, opening up his mind and letting them all come towards him, melding into Black until Voltron stood tall and proud amongst the fleet of purple.

 

“Let's do this!” Hunk cheered, and Lance felt himself growing excited by second nature, the five of them working as one entity now, moving swiftly through space towards the targeted spot Coran was displaying on their screens.

 

“Strike it right through,” Coran instructed, “A blast wont be enough to reach the centre of the ship.”

 

“Got it,” Keith said, and Lance could feel his eagerness, the chance to take down yet _another_ fleet of Galran ships.

 

It suddenly felt silly to have been so worried about Keith leaving them, about possibly going off on his own to actually figure out the secrets of his family.

 

No, Lance decided, because _they_ were Keith's family now.

 

“Aw, Lance,” he heard a hint of smugness in Pidge's tone, and Lance quickly shook the thoughts away, instantly flushing and hoping Keith was too distracted by his other task to pay attention to Lance's mushy declaration.

 

Keith hit their target straight-on, because of _course_ he did, and they celebrated for a grand total of 4 ticks before finishing off the rest of the ships, crumbling one by one under the sheer force of Voltron's _awesomeness_.

 

They disbanded, all heading back to the castle, only the victory was short-lived for Lance when a lone ship appeared as if from nowhere, and before Lance could react, a blast was aimed his way.

 

Lance tensed for the impending hit, but found there was no explosion, no flying off course. Instead he felt cold, dark, like putting out a fire. He opened his eyes and noticed Blue was motionless. He tried not to panic.

 

“Guys,” he tried over the comms. “Guys, something's wrong with Blue—it's like her circuits have been shut down, she's not answering me!”

 

He could see his team still flying away, unaware, and a doomed feeling began crawling up Lance's throat. He jiggled the controls, mind racing, trying to look out for the ship that had hit him.

 

His eyes landed on Red, and Lance cried out to Keith, desperate and long as he pushed the very boundaries of their link, and he wondered if this would be it for him—for _Blue_.

 

He saw a flicker of a shadow in his peripheral vision and dread overcame him, and Lance closed his eyes slowly, taking a deep breath, and accepted his fate.

 

Only then, Red was there, knocking the remaining enemy ship out of Lance's range, and Lance almost choked on his relief.

 

_I got you buddy!_

 

Keith's voice was gruff, and if Lance hadn't still been so shaken up, he would have realised that the words had been spoken in his mind. Black appeared as well, carrying Lance away, still in Blue, and Lance could only barely see Keith finish off the Galran ship when Pidge and Hunk flew over to help.

 

They made it to the castle, and Black stationed Blue in one of the emergency hangar's, and Lance had to wait for someone to come and release the hatch above the cockpit.

 

“Lance!” Hunk's worried voice echoed down to him, and Lance let out a rush of air, body relaxing now that his life was no longer on the line.

 

“Hey bud, thanks for saving me,” Lance started as he crawled out the top, letting Hunk help him up.

 

“Of course,” Hunk said, “But I mean, it was Keith that heard you calling for help, man. None of us did, but if Keith hadn't, you might be... you could've...”

 

Lance saw the crestfallen look Hunk was displaying, and Lance pulled him into a hug, all warm and tight.

 

“I'm okay, we're okay,” he assured Hunk with a deep sigh, melting into the embrace, “I just hope Blue's not in bad shape.”

 

“We'll get her fixed up in no time, don't worry buddy,” Hunk gripped back.

 

“Lance!”

 

Lance pulled away, heart instinctively tugging at that familiar voice. He saw Keith appear at the tunnel's mouth that led to his lion's hangar, and Lance couldn't help it when a gasp escaped him. Because Keith was turning purple.

 

They both got down from Blue and met Keith halfway, with Pidge and Shiro now appearing as well, all sporting surprised looks.

 

“Keith, you've got... purple patches all over you,” Pidge said, her finger gesturing wildly.

 

“Huh?” Keith blinked his yellow eyes before ripping off the armour on his left arm. Sure enough, there were purple blotches there too, scattering along his arm, looking slightly fluffier than the rest of his human skin.

 

“You _do_ get fuzz,” Lance breathed.

 

Keith looked at him, his yellow eyes piercing, and Lance felt an unfamiliar buzz in his body, like when you've slept on a limb for too long and then you finally let the blood flow again. His heart was starting up again, and Lance frowned, and Keith frowned back, like they were both having a silent conversation together.

 

“Paladins!”

 

They all turned to see Coran running towards them, hair crazier than usual.

 

“Are you all alright? I lost connection to Blue at the end there, did something happen, Lance?”

 

“Yeah,” Lance began, stealing one last look at Keith. “This enemy ship appeared out of nowhere and rendered Blue unresponsive. But somehow Keith heard me calling out, and—”

 

“Keith my boy, you're Galra is showing again!” Coran said, finally taking notice.

 

“Yeah,” Keith shifted awkwardly, not meeting anyone's eyes.

 

“Well, I'm glad you were able to help Lance, that could've been one hell of a doozy!” Coran smiled big at him before something in his eyes lit up. “Oh! I was going to tell you today, I found a possible cause to your sudden Galra changes!”

 

“Really?” Keith looked at him with wide eyes, lips pursed.

 

“Yes, uh,” Coran glanced at the team, his expression settling into a look Lance remembered receiving in the sixth grade after he was told he didn't get the part he wanted in his school's play. “Why don't we retire to my study? I'll give you a chance to tell the others in due time.”

 

“Okay,” Keith said slowly, one step behind Coran as they left the hangar.

 

There was a layer of silence left behind until Hunk said, “I hope it's not serious.”

 

“Coran would've said if it was hurting Keith in any way, so I trust them both with what they're doing,” Shiro said before he too left, Pidge shrugging and following.

 

“Hey,” Hunk said, and Lance barely realised it was directed at him. “How do you think Keith heard you if your connection was down?”

 

Lance stared at the floor, heart loud in his ears. “I... I don't know.”

 

*

 

So, Keith was kind of avoiding him.

 

Or, okay, Keith was actually avoiding _all_ of them, but Lance couldn't help but feel like it was him especially.

 

Lance had no idea what Coran could have said to him to have him skipping dinners or training before the rest of them showed up so Keith could leave when they all walked in.

 

Lance was curious, and hurt, and angry all at once.

 

But he made himself step back and let Keith come to them in his own time.

 

“Pidgeotto! What's crack-a-lacking?” Lance said as he walked into Pidge's room.

 

“Ugh,” Pidge squinted her eyes at him, but there was the residue of a smile there. “Isn't there someone else you can go bother? I'm on the brink of something right now.”

 

“Aren't you always?” Lance grinned as he sprawled out on her bed, feet in the air. Pidge's room was always fascinating—Lance swears each time he comes in here there's at least one new machine halfway built with a million new graphs plastered over her walls. “Besides, you love my mindless chatter.”

 

Pidge laughed but didn't deny it.

 

Some time past where Lance would occasionally ask her questions about stuff she was writing down, and in return she would ask him about home, before the Garrison, before he had any dreams of becoming a pilot.

 

It was nice, to confide in someone going through the same thing you were. Lance almost regretted not talking about Earth more now, the both of them laughing together as he finished telling her a story about the time his sister caught him smoking weed for the first time, just barely avoiding burning the house down in a slew of craving and baking garlic knots.

 

“Life was so simple back then,” Lance sighed when the laughter settled down.

 

“Yeah,” Pidge said, voice oddly small.

 

Lance turned his head to her. “We'll find them, Pidge. We'll find your family. I promise.”

 

Pidge offered a kind smile, and nodded once.

 

*

 

“Alright team. We've done this before, back on that forest planet with the Hymaldees. So everyone go and change into your formal attire and meet back here in fifteen.”

 

Lance gasped. “You think I can create beauty in fifteen minutes!?”

 

“Work your magic,” Shiro smirked at him before leaving with Allura.

 

“Cool, we get to eat some real food. Although I hope they serve less bugs than that last planet did,” Pidge shuddered before she and Hunk trudged off to their rooms.

 

Lance peaked at Keith out of the corner of his eye, still cautious around him since the day Keith had saved him. Lance was stuck on a lot of things, namely Keith's Galra mood swings and this odd pull he always felt around Keith now.

 

Keith wasn't avoiding them as much, and perhaps he had started feeling this weird electricity between them too, like static in a wire, connecting them together with some invisible string.

 

It sounded crazy, but, Lance was in short supply of reasonable answers here.

 

Keith caught his gaze and offered a timid smile before he said, “Time to dress and impress, I guess.”

 

Lance huffed out a laugh. “Never thought I'd hear you say that.”

 

Keith gave a half shrug, and Lance could've sworn he saw a flash of yellow in his dark eyes.

 

Later, once they had all successfully dressed up for the occasion (and Lance _did_ work his magic, thank you very much Shiro) they all made descent, following Allura into a palace that smelled of something similar to chocolate but it's structure was a pure gold substance.

 

Festivities abound, all of the Paladins and the two Alteans were honoured guests for the evening, with live entertainment and an array of food large enough for an army (Pidge cheered when there were no bugs in sight).

 

Allura was a gracious leader, like in most cases, and had since made a recovery from her sickness from the past week. Coran said she'd had a talk with Keith as well, so Lance was happy to learn she was starting to accept him more now.

 

Searching around, Lance noticed Keith hanging off to the side of the ballroom, his stance reserved until Shiro walked over to start up a conversation with him.

 

For all Lance knew, being here might be putting Keith on edge, worried his Galra side might begin to show—and who knows how their hosts would react to _that_ information.

 

“Excuse me, my Paladin.”

 

Lance turned to the voice, coming face to face with one of the members of the council Allura had been talking too.

 

“Ah, hi,” Lance smiled.

 

The humaniod smiled in return, his four eyes roaming up and down Lance slowly. Lance shuffled a bit in his place.

 

“My, news spreads of the Paladin's of Voltron being a gorgeous crew, but I must say, none of them hold a candle to you.” The beginning of a leer, and Lance laughed a bit forcefully.

 

“Oh, thank you, but you flatter me.”

 

“Not at all,” the man stepped closer, a strange scent overloading Lance's senses, like when you've sprayed too much perfume on—sickeningly sweet.

 

Something about the man wasn't settling right with Lance, but he stood tall, not wanting to cause a fuss, not while Allura was trying her hardest to secure another alliance. The man crowded his space more, his breath now ghosting over Lance's cheek, and Lance swallowed down his nerves, raising a hand to hopefully communicate the need for some distance.

 

“I could just devour you,” the man whispered.

 

A cold shiver ran through Lance. “T-that's, no, I don't--”

 

“ _Step away from him_.”

 

Lance's head whipped around to see Keith now a couple feet away, and was shocked yet again to see his Galra side taking over. Yellow threatening to engulf the black, skin shading to purple in waves, like it was consuming him. And this time, his ears were changing shape, arching up, growing larger, and Lance could almost _hear_ the anger rolling off Keith as he stared the man down.

 

“A Galra,” the man almost hissed, and a few heads began turning towards them.

 

 _This can't be good,_ Lance fretted.

 

“I won't ask you again; _step away now,_ ” Keith glowered, his two front teeth baring into fangs.

 

“You think you can say that to me?” The man sneered, lips curling.

 

“Keith,” Lance whispered in warning, stepping closer to him in the hopes it might calm Keith down. It did, and Lance tried to swallow his pride.

 

“What's going on here?” Allura's commanding voice rang out around the room, her face set coldly like stone.

 

“It's nothing—” Lance said.

 

“It's _not_ nothing,” Keith almost growled, gesturing to the man with a jerk of his head. “This guy was overstepping his bounds. Lance was uncomfortable, what else was I supposed to do?”

 

“Keith,” Allura said, but her eyes stayed firmly on the councilman. “I will deal with him. Lance, can you take Keith to another room, please? Shiro and I will settle this issue.”

 

“Uh, yep, sure thing Princess,” Lance reached out to grab Keith, dragging them both away, eventually finding what looked to be a spare bedroom after they'd walked for a few minutes in silence. He released his hand from it's place around Keith's wrist, the skin there tingling pleasantly.

 

“Are you okay?” Keith asked, eyes wide as he turned to face Lance.

 

Lance felt his heart tug from how worried Keith sounded, and the smile he offered in return felt honest, like a breath of fresh air. “I'm fine, now.”

 

Keith smiled back, but then it dropped when he looked down and saw the claws threatening to rip through the ends of his fingers. Lance paused, frowning, and then he stepped forward to take Keith's hand in his own, and when Keith tried to tug away Lance gripped harder.

 

“Keith,” Lance breathed, and Keith met his gaze straight-on, like a deer caught in headlights. “What about _you_? Are _you_ okay? You've been awfully quiet this past week. You're not... you're not in pain, are you? All of these changes...”

 

“No,” Keith was quick to insist, but then he grew guarded, eyes downcast, and Lance took another step closer.

 

“Keith, please tell me? I'm worried, I don't... I've hated not being close to you,” Keith's eyes shot up, and Lance let out a disbelieving laugh. “I know, right? It's super weird and I have no idea how to explain it, but I just... miss you, dammit. And I wish I could be someone you feel safe to talk to about it.”

 

“Lance,” Keith's eyes looked glossy, and Lance was about to panic, not equipped to handle a crying Galra Keith. “I do feel safe with you, it's just...” he trailed off, taking a deep breath before he mumbled something unintelligible.

 

“What?” Lance cocked his head and heard Keith heave a deep sigh.

 

“Coran told me... that when a Galra comes of age, natural protective instincts take over and they... well, start to search for a mate.”

 

Lance blinked, sure he heard Keith wrong.

 

“A mate.” He repeated, dubious.

 

Keith groaned into his free hand. “Oh, god, I knew I shouldn't have said anything. Fuck, shit, I was hoping to avoid this whole mess, honestly—”

 

“You... you want to mate _me_? _Why_?”

 

Keith looked at him as if to say  _'How am I supposed to know?'_  Then he threw his hands up exasperatedly, pacing a bit, his Galra ears twitching in frustration. _So cute_ , Lance thought.

 

“Because,” Keith spat, “Because you... god dammit, even when you're trying to get a rile out of me, or conjure up another stupid bet, or sing so loud my eardrums hurt, you're still... amazing,” Keith breathed the last part, “To me. You're _kind_ , and... and _sometimes_ funny, and you're somehow simultaneously full of yourself and also incredibly selfless. You don't give yourself enough credit. You're...” Keith chanced a look. “You're still the same infuriating, loud-mouthed, gorgeous boy I noticed back at the Garrison.”

 

Lance's brain short-circuited. He felt his whole body flush, bug-eyed as he stared at Keith, making sure this wasn't some huge punk'd episode. Keith frowned in return.

 

“I'm not making this up.” He sounded almost irritated.

 

Lance gaped. Keith had...  _heard_ him?

 

“Uh, right,” Keith wrung his fingers together, now looking sheepish. “When... when Galra's find a mate, they kind of, uh, share a telepathic bond?”

 

“Oh my god,” Lance laughed, wanting to sit down. But he stayed, determined for this bizarre situation to end so he can finally admit what he's been wanting to admit for ages. It all seemed so easy now, like this was always meant to happen, from the very beginning, ever since the day he first laid eyes on Keith across the mess hall at the Garrison and thought _'Man, that guy seems super cool.'_

 

So he concentrated, closing his eyes and grinning. _Hey, wanna go out with me?_

 

He heard Keith gasp. And then suddenly, something in his mind opened up, like a dam breaking; like a light out at sea; like seeing your loved ones again after so, so long.

 

 _You're not... freaking out about this?_ Lance heard back.

 

He offered a small chuckle. _Keith, I don't think this mind link would work quite as much if I_ didn't _like you back, dummy._

 

He felt Keith growl in the back of his mind, low and predatory. _Don't say what you can't take back._

 

_Try me._

 

And then Keith was on him, hands snaking up Lance's chest and settling at his neck, and then his head was being pulled down and Lance only had a second to steady himself before—

 

Keith kissed him.

 

Lance gasped into his mouth before emitting a low groan, pressing their bodies closer just as Keith pushed his tongue past Lance's lips. It was hot, too hot; every movement Keith made against him had Lance responding in full, hungry and willing.

 

It felt so damn _right_.

 

Keith licked the roof of his mouth, pulling back to run his tongue over Lance's top lip, and Lance shivered, running his hands through Keith's hair and brushing along his Galra ears. And Lance was caught off guard when Keith actually _whined_ into his mouth.

 

 _Your ears sensitive?_ Lance thought, his tone playful.

 

 _Shut up_ , Keith bit back. And then: _Don't stop._

 

Lance grinned against Keith's mouth, and when their lips connected again, it was ages until they finally separated and returned to the party, red-faced and grinning like fools.

 

*

 

“Man, I am _so_ ready for a nap,” Lance groaned, cracking his back as he left Blue's hangar and walked into the control room where everyone else was waiting.

 

“I'm ready for your _face_ ,” Keith said to him. completely straight-faced.

 

“Oh my god,” Pidge mumbled under her breath. “You two seriously need to haul back on the lovey-dovey stuff during battle—we can _all_ hear you, ya know.”

 

“Yeah, we know,” Lance winked at her.

 

“Incorrigible,” Pidge muttered before walking off.

 

“I'm sure she's happy for us,” Keith promised as he slinked his arms around Lance, pulling him in flush. Lance went easily, willingly, before dipping his head down for their traditional post-battle kiss. As he did, Keith's Galra side started showing through, nails digging possessively into Lance's sides.

 

“Easy bat boy, we're not in my room yet,” Lance waggled his eyebrows.

 

“Okay,” Shiro announced a little too loudly. “That's my cue to leave. No one come to me for _any_ reason unless Zarkon himself is personally asking for me. Actually, you know what? Not even then. Peace out.” Exiting stage left, Shiro gave them a finger salute before he retired for the night.

 

“My hero, look at him go,” Lance awed.

 

“Well, have fun you two. Remember to practice safe sex always,” Hunk called out to them, leaving the room before Lance could think of a witty remark.

 

“I am pretty tired, actually, wanna nap?” Keith asked.

 

Lance nodded, slinging an arm around Keith's shoulders and walking them both towards his room. The stripped off their uniforms leisurely, savouring the feeling as they both climbed into bed and snuggled up next to each other.

 

Lance felt the pull still, like this feeling of being wrapped in a warm blanket on a cold day. Keith was a heavy, grounding weight pressed up against his side, relaxed and content, and Lance wondered how he ever got to be this lucky.

 

 _No, it's_ me _who's the lucky one._

 

Lance startled, sometimes forgetting their link. _Nuh-uh, no way hombre. Besides, how many people can say they're dating an awesome half-Galran, half-human Paladin of Voltron, huh?_

 

_Just one._

 

Lance felt his heart tug happily. _Hell_ yeah _just one._

 

 _And I'm dating the most beautiful boy in the entire Universe._ Keith stated proudly, adding, _No arguing._ when he felt Lance start to protest.

 

“Man, we're sappy as fuck,” Lance laughed, not even caring as he pulled Keith impossibly closer.

 

Keith hummed in reply, and there was nothing but blissed silence between them, the hum of the castleship lulling them into a soft slumber, but then—

 

 _Keith... are you..._ purring?

 

Keith froze, surprise and embarrassment wafting through their link, until Lance took it upon himself to scratch behind his ears again, wanting to hear more.

 

 _So, so cute. Too cute, oh my god, I have the cutest boyfriend_ ever _it's official—_

 

_Lance. Shut up._

 

 _The_ cutest _._

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> i think it turned way fluffier than first planned but eh, i'm a sucker for the fluff man ;)
> 
> also, to clarify: I completely understand Allura's distance/trepidation when it came to the reveal of Galra!Keith, so any way I expand on that matter or any other topic is simply how I imagine Lance would dwell on these facts - he's a simple, straightforward boy, to an extent :P
> 
> [/tumblr](http://edsbrak.tumblr.com/) x


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